The Ball and the Cross.

CHESTERTON, G.K.

$3,200.00

Item Number: 111967

Wells Gardner, Darton and Co: London, 1910.

First edition of this classic novel. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper in the year of publication, “March 5, 1910 Dear Mrs Morley Horden- I implore you read no further This is the one good sentence of English in this book- Yours remorsefully G.K. Chesterton.” In very good condition, bookplate of the Greek shipping magnate Kallakis family. A unique example.

Like much of G. K. Chesterton's fiction, The Ball and the Cross is both witty and profound, cloaking serious religious and philosophical inquiry in sparkling humor and whimsy. Serialized in the British publication The Commonwealth in 1905-06, Chesterton's second novel first appeared in book form in America in 1909, delighting and challenging readers with its heady mixture of fantasy, farce, and theology. The plot of The Ball and the Cross chronicles a hot dispute between two Scotsmen, one a devout but naive Roman Catholic, the other a zealous but naive atheist. Their fanatically held opinions—leading to a duel that is proposed but never fought—inspire a host of comic adventures whose allegorical levels vigorously explore the debate between theism and atheism.